 I want to invite you, if you have a Bible with you, to turn with me to Matthew chapter six. Today, instead of spending some time in one passage, we're gonna be all over. I want to inculminate several passages of scriptures together, culminating in the point that will end in Matthew chapter six. But before we get to Matthew chapter six, there'll be several different places in which we'll lay the foundation for what I want to conclude in Matthew chapter six. But today, my heart, my desire, and my prayer for you is that you would gain a greater understanding of the 2020 vision that God has for your life. The 2020 vision, of course, we know when someone says I have 2020 vision, that means that you have clear sight. And how cool is this that we get to talk about our 2020 vision about having clear sight for what God wants to do in and through our lives in this next year. And I want to talk to you a little bit about the vision that God has for you for this next year, but in order to accomplish the vision of what God has for you, you need to have a vision of him. You need to have clear sight of who God is in your life if you're gonna be able to do all that God would call you to do. And so I wanna share a message with you that I'm entitling a New Year's Revelation. A New Year's Revelation. 2020 vision for the future God has for you. And so let's pray one more time and ask God to bless this time that we have to be together. And Lord, as we gather here this evening to spend the last few moments of this year, the way we ought to spend every moment of every year, putting you first. May the way that we end this year in these moments be a precedent God for each of us that we would live our lives in such a way that we would place you as a priority within our hearts, within our lives in the way that we live. And so Lord, as we spend this time together, we want to see you clearly. That's the desire of our heart, Lord. We are here to hear from you. And so we ask God that you would speak to us now. Our hearts are open. We are ready to receive your church desires to know what you have for each of us this day and for this year. And so Lord, we pray that you would meet us here as you promised to do. We know you are. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, today, of course, is New Year's Eve. And even within that title, it talks about, it speaks of and brings the remembrance that we are on the brink of a new beginning. A new year brings about a fresh start. We get another chance to do better and to improve in the ways that we want to improve in. And so with the beginning of a new year, of course, comes New Year's resolutions. Now, with a show of hands, and you have to be honest, we're in church, you can't lie, how many of you have either made or planned to make at least one New Year's resolution? Raise your hand. This is totally a setup. You desire and you're planning on making a New Year's resolution. Most of us, if not all of us in some way or some form, are planning on some type of resolution. Just so you know, a resolution is defined this way. It means to determine to purpose or with perseverance. And do you know the top things that our country is determining to purpose and with perseverance, the resolutions that our country is desiring to do, there's the top two. One is to become more financially stable and the second is to lose weight. Maybe that's why one person prayed, Lord, for this next year in 2020, I pray that you would give me a fat bank account and a thin body. And Lord, try not to mix those two up like you did last year. Resolutions, the problem with them is they rarely last. Research reveals the truth. If you make a resolution this year, statistically speaking, after just one week, 25% of you have already failed at your resolution. After one month, 36% are already failing with 64% still staying true. After six months, 54% are failing. And at the end of the year, only between three and 5% of people who had a resolution actually saw it through the entire year. That's why we have this holiday every year so we can start over again. Now, statistically speaking, resolutions don't last for more than a year. That's why there's over $250 million spent on unused gym memberships a year. $250 million nationwide is spent out of your pockets and my pockets on gym memberships that we don't ever use. We like the idea of going to the gym so we pay for the idea. But $250 million are spent on unused. Why? Because we start off the year to resolve. I'm gonna do better, I'm gonna determine to purpose with perseverance. One week later, I don't know about that anymore. It's hard to keep a resolution. That's why one person said, this year my New Year's resolution is to break all my resolutions. That way I'll actually succeed at one for once. Resolutions, New Year's resolutions, they don't seem to last. But tonight I wanna share with you one thing that will have a lasting impact in your life. Not only for the year, but throughout the years of your life. Something that will last in your life. I'm not talking about a New Year's resolution, but a New Year's revelation. A revelation of the risen Savior will change your life forever. For the Lord to be revealed to you for you to have clear sight, 2020 vision of who Jesus is will leave your life changed forever. And tonight I wanna talk to you briefly about a few stories throughout the Bible of people who had encounters with the resurrected Savior and that they found their lives were changed forever. Because when you see who Jesus is, it is impossible to remain unchanged. When you see who Jesus is, it is impossible to stay the same. And so those three groups of people that I wanna talk to you about the first are disciples turned preachers. Disciples turned preachers. You see when Jesus was put to death, those men that were close to him and that followed him everywhere. They didn't have very many worries as long as they were with Jesus. And when they were close to Jesus, they knew that things would be okay. But now Jesus is betrayed. He's taken into an illegal trial. He's now put to death. He hung on a cross. He bled out for the sins of the world and now was buried in a grave. The stone was rolled in front of the tomb and it says that the tomb was sealed and that doesn't mean that they took some gorilla glue and they sealed it and glued the stone on there. What that is talking about is the seal of the Roman Empire. That the Roman Empire would place a seal of a crimson red cord, cable across and stamp it on both sides of that stone. And what that seal stood for was that the contents that was placed inside of this container were still intact. And if anybody broke that seal, the punishment for breaking that seal would be death by crucifixion. And so to the disciples, things looked bleak. They forgot about the many times that Jesus told them exactly what he was going to do. That he would go to the cross, he would be put to death for the sins of the world, but three days later he would rise again. It seems like that never processed in their minds that they couldn't fathom that they wouldn't be with Jesus. And so now Jesus is buried in the tomb and we see in John chapter 20, I want to pick up in verse 19. It says then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, peace be with you. Verse 20 of John 20, when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. The disciples were filled with fear because Jesus wasn't with them. Little did they know Jesus was with them, but they were filled with fear and so they were hiding behind locked doors in fear of the Jewish religious leaders. After seeing what they just did to Jesus, they knew that they would probably come for them next. So curtains drawn, shutters closed, doors locked, they're hiding in fear. But now Jesus appears to them and they have a revelation of the risen savior. And when they saw Jesus, it says in verse 20, they were glad. When they saw Jesus and they had an encounter with the resurrected savior, it changed them forever. Where these men who were in fear would proclaim the word of God boldly, the gospel, the good news throughout the world. No longer in fear of their lives, but almost all of them minus John, who they tried to kill by throwing them in a hot vat of boiling oil, but he wouldn't die. So they finally banished him to Patmos where he would receive the revelation of God, talk about a revelation of Jesus, seeing those things that we have written in the book of Revelation. All of the disciples would be willing to give their lives no longer in fear but proclaiming the good news, no matter the cost. Why? Something changed. They went from being men filled with fear to men being filled with the spirits. Something changed because they had an encounter with the resurrected savior. They saw Jesus and were changed forever. Peter, this manly man, burly. Peter means the rock. Dwayne the rock, Johnson. Peter the rock. I'm a manly man. Really, Peter? You're hanging out by a fire where you shouldn't be and a little girl comes to you and recognizes your accent and says, oh, you were one with Jesus. And Peter denied that he even knew Jesus to a little girl. And then another lady among the crowd, she recognized him and his accent, you see, because Peter was from the region of Galilee, which was the blue-collared society. It was the redneck region of Israel. They had a distinct accent, and so they picked it up and said, no, we record your accent. Your accent, well, we can tell who you are. Your accent betrays you. You were one that was with Jesus. And finally, Peter, he's cursing. He's cursing even that he knows God. He's denying it and swearing he doesn't. Peter, this manly man. But it doesn't end that way. Peter, in that very moment in denying Jesus three times, somehow, someway, Jesus is being taken by the Jewish leaders, and Jesus makes eye contact with Peter. And in that moment, Peter is so filled with sorrow and remorse because he went back on his promise of what he told Jesus moments earlier, that I will never deny you. If I have to follow you to death, I will. I will never deny you. And now he found himself denying Jesus just like Jesus said he would. So Peter goes away remorsefully. And the next place that we find, Peter, is back in Galilee. Back fishing. He went to his old way of lifestyle. That's what happens to a lot of us when we deny Jesus with our lives or with our words. We find ourselves going back to the old ways of life. Three years earlier, Jesus called Peter out of fishing and he says, I'm gonna make you a fisher of man. Peter left his nets behind him because when God calls you into a new life, there's a change that takes place. You leave the old behind and you step into the new that God has for you. So Peter left that behind, but now three years later, Peter went back to his old lifestyle, his old watering holes, so to speak, doing what he used to do before Christ back in his BC days, but Jesus doesn't leave Peter there. Jesus in John chapter 20 goes after Peter and he finds Peter and we see Jesus there on the shore, cooking up some fish, waiting for Peter as he was fishing all night. And in John chapter 21, as Peter's coming in from the shore after catching nothing because you need to remember that when you go back to the old way of life after you've tasted and seen that the Lord is good, you'll always find yourself coming up empty again. And he caught nothing and Jesus shouted from the shore, why don't you throw your nets on the other side? No doubt that would bring back a memory of what took place with Peter when Jesus first called him into ministry. Peter could have yelled back, no, I'm a professional, I know what I'm doing, it's already daylight, the fish are gone, if I was gonna catch anything, I know the spots to catch them, I'm the professional, let me take care of it. But Peter listened and obeyed and he threw his nets on the other side of the boat again and he caught such a great catch that when he saw it, he immediately knew who was on that shore, it was Jesus Christ. He didn't wait a moment, he took off his cloak, his outer garment and he dove into the water and he swam to the shore and there Jesus was frying up some filet of fish, cooking up some fish and what Peter was looking for all night and coming up empty was found in Jesus all along. What will satisfy you isn't found in the old ways of life or going back and compromising, what's found that you're looking for that will truly fulfill and satisfy is only what is found in Jesus Christ. He has what you need in your life and Jesus recommissioned Peter that day and he told Peter to feed his sheep in the very next two chapters later in your Bible in Acts, chapter two, we see Peter going from a man who was hiding in a locked room to a man who was denying Jesus by the fire to a little girl, to a man who went back to his old way of life, to a man now who's standing before a mob of 3,000 plus people and boldly declaring who Jesus is and sharing the gospel with people where 3,000 among that crowd gets saved that day. Talk about a revival beginning to break out. What changed in Peter's life? He had a revelation of the resurrected savior and disciples turned preachers. Number two, skeptics turned believers. James the step brother or half brother of Jesus, he wasn't a follower of Jesus according to John chapter seven, verse five. He thought Jesus was crazy according to Mark chapter three and it's no wonder if you think about it why James wouldn't like Jesus, think about all the pressures that James would have to be more like his big brother growing up. I mean, could you imagine being James and you did something stupid and you shouldn't have done and Mary and Joseph pull you aside and say, James, why can't you just be more like your big brother Jesus? We never had these problems with Jesus. Jesus always listened, he always obeyed, he always did what was right. James, couldn't you be a little bit more like Jesus? So James, he wasn't a big fan of Jesus, actually encouraged Jesus to leave and go away. That's what happens when the light is in our lives, either we'll want the light to be removed from our lives or we'll wanna come into the light. And so Jesus and James, well, James wasn't a big follower of Jesus, but then something changed. James was a skeptic, but Jesus appeared to his brother in first Corinthians chapter 15, verse seven. It says then he was seen by James. Jesus made a point to go after his brother. And James and Jesus had this moment where James had an encounter, a revelation of the resurrected savior and his belief was radically changed so much so that James radically followed Jesus and became a leader in the early church. But it wasn't only with James, it happened with Paul. You remember the story of Paul for you that have been around and even in Sunday school, a man named Saul of Tarsus. He was so zealous and adamant of his Jewish upbringing and belief system and religious system that these Christians were destroying it so he had a letter of authority to hunt down Christians and find Christians and put Christians to death. You remember when Stephen was stoned in Acts chapter six. When Stephen was stoned, it says that as they were stoning him, there was a man, you have to look for it, Saul holding everyone's garments that was stoning him. He was behind the scenes making sure that worked. These men that were leaders in the early church, Saul was going after them one by one and picking them off. But there was a radical transformation in Saul who later became known as Paul because he had a revelation of the resurrected savior. On the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul and he said, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Jesus appeared to Saul and Saul never was the same. He went from persecuting the church to being a leader in the church so much so that God used him to write two thirds of the New Testament of the Bible. Paul had an erratical encounter with Jesus and was radically changed and began living for Jesus in a radical way. So you have disciples that turned preachers, you have skeptics that turned believers and number three, you have witnesses that turned into martyrs. First Corinthians chapter 15 verse six says after that, Jesus was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time. Most of whom are still alive though some have died. We know that in this crowd that Jesus appeared to of over 500 followers, we know that some of them believed in Jesus and were followers of Jesus. Others were just gathering because, well, some people just gather wherever there's a crowd and some were gathering there because others were gathering there because they believed they were gonna see Jesus. There were some there that didn't believe that they would see Jesus but were still there to watch what was going to happen and Jesus appeared to that crowd and 500 people encountered Jesus, including people's lives who had a complete radical 180 degree change. They went from not believing in Jesus to believing in Jesus because they had a revelation of the resurrected savior. And so much so that these followers of Jesus and even those that weren't followers of Jesus, they were willing to give up everything as a reward for serving God. The early Christians were beaten, stoned to death, fed to lions, dipped in hot wax and lit as human torches. They were burned at the stake. They were tortured and crucified. And every conceivable method that was used to stop them, to silence them and to quench what God was doing through them was used against them but they did not stop because they had a revelation of the resurrected savior. I started off this message by sharing with you this very truth. It is impossible to have a revelation of the resurrected savior and remain unchanged because when you encounter the resurrected savior, it will change your life forever. What changed? They didn't have a New Year's resolution. We need to do better, Peter thought, I'm gonna not put my foot in my mouth so many times. It wasn't that James said, you know what, maybe I gotta get things together and try harder and purpose within my life and determine with perseverance to get my act straight and stop cursing and stop drinking and stop going to those places and stop watching those things and stop clicking on those links. It wasn't a New Year's resolution to do within my own willpower or something changed in their lives that day. It was the presence of Jesus Christ. They beheld his glory and they were changed forever. They saw Jesus for who he was, their savior. We don't need a resolution to do better. We need a revelation of our risen savior because when we see Jesus, it will have a lasting impact in our lives. You see the beginning of the year, it's a time for a couple of things. It's time for retrospect, where we look back over our past year, look at the things that we did and weren't able to do, the things that we wish we would have been able to accomplish and the things that we did accomplish. And we look back over this last year and realize the areas that we want to do better in and the areas that we want to change and the areas that we're thankful for, but it's not only a time for retrospect, but the beginning of a new year is also a time for prospect, a new year, a new beginning, see what we would like to accomplish. But let me tell you this, if you want to have the best year you've ever had yet in your life, if you truly want to believe the best is yet to come, it's a very simple principle to guarantee this will be your best year yet. It's a simple principle with great power, but often neglected in our lives. It's Matthew chapter six. I asked you to turn there. I want to draw your attention just to one verse, verse 33 of Matthew chapter six. It says this, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. The principle that will guarantee that you have the best year yet, if you put Jesus at the greatest priority of your life, that if you seek after Jesus like you've never sought after Him before, that you live for Him for the purposes of what God has created you to do, if you seek Him first, Jesus shared this truth right after He just got done talking a message about worrying and don't worry about what you're gonna wear and don't worry about what you're gonna eat. And I like how Jesus talked about those two things because as men, we're always thinking about what we're gonna eat. You know, at breakfast time, usually when we're eating breakfast, we're thinking I wonder what we're gonna have for lunch. Lunchtime, we're thinking about what we're gonna eat for dinner. Jesus, don't worry about what you're gonna eat. And then He says, don't worry about what you're gonna wear. And I like that, because ladies are always thinking about what they're gonna wear. I have nothing to wear. I don't know what I'm gonna wear to this New Year's Eve thing. It's stressing me out. And Jesus says, don't worry about it. Your Father knows. But seek me first in my righteousness. And all these other things will be added to your life. The problem is many of us don't take Jesus upon that promise. The New Year's resolution, well I wanna become more financially stable so we take the second job or the third job. We wanna get that vacation house or we wanna get the boat. We wanna get the new car or whatever it is we desire. Not that it's wrong, but what is wrong is when we start sacrificing the calling that God has on our lives to be used by Him. For Revelation chapter four declares that we were made by Him and for Him and for His good pleasure. Ephesians, it also declares that we were made by God for His purposes. Let me tell you this. You exist for God and when you surrender your life to Him, you are surrendering your life to be used by God for His purposes and His plan. You might say, well then why do I wanna surrender my life to Him? Because what Jesus has for you is always gonna be better than what you could ever have for yourself. Jesus's plan for your life, the purpose in which you are created and many people are finding a difficulty in their existence. Why do I exist? What's the purpose of my life? In this time in history, in this location in which I live. What is life really all about? And people are perplexed with that question until you realize your life was created to accomplish God's purposes. And the Bible declares that you were bought with a price. His life, the blood of Jesus Christ shed for you, that you were enslaved in sin, that you were destined to eternal damnation in hell. But because God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. And God loved you enough to give His life to you to redeem you, to purchase you out of the sin that held you captive. And so now when you surrender your life to Him, you are free to live the life that Christ has created you to live for His plans and for His purposes. But in our culture today, we get so caught up with everything else and living for ourselves in our house and the car and the job and the career promotion and these things that we get so caught up in that we forget about the vision that God has for us this year. God has created you, all your idiosyncrasies, all your characteristics, all your corks and personality traits. God has created you just the way you are to accomplish His purposes and plan for your life. So the question is, will you live for His plans and for His purposes or will you live for your own new year's resolutions to purpose? This is what I want for my life. This is what I'm determining to do this year, 2020, a new year, a new beginning. It does come with a fresh start and opportunity to do better. But for each of us made the very thing that we purpose in our hearts to do with perseverance is to seek Him first and His righteousness. And when we do Christ promises to take care of everything else, that happens when we realign our priorities with God's plan and our actions will convey our priorities. Your priorities aren't what you say they are. They're not even what you think they are. To know your priorities, you just look to what you do the most, where you spend your most energy, your most money, your most time, your most resources. That's what's most important to you. You see, we don't need a resolution to do better. We need a revelation of the risen savior. And we need to put God first in our lives. Our year will be full of problems and there will be a lack of provision when our priorities are not in line with God's plan. So God gives this challenge, but it follows with a promise. God is challenging you. If you rise to this challenge and seek Him first in His righteousness, it says everything else will be added because God's priorities are directly linked with God's provision. God's priorities are directly linked with God's provision. And when God's priorities become your priorities, when you no longer pray, Lord, my will be done on earth as it is in heaven, but you begin to pray like Jesus demonstrated, Lord, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. No longer what I want, but what you want, God, when we align our priorities with God's priorities, then we will begin to experience God's provision in our lives. God promises to provide all that you need in your life. But if you forsake what He's calling you to do and serving Him with your life and living for Him with your life and giving to Him with your life, your resources, your time, your energy, then God says, I will make all that you are living for unattainable, you will never be able to grasp it. Haggai chapter one talks about your, you're putting it in your pockets, trying to store up these things that you're working towards, but it's as if you have holes in your pockets. It's falling out, you'd never be able to obtain it. It's as you're grasping at the wind because God knows if you're not gonna keep Him first in your life, He can't give you the very things that He desires to bless you with because He knows that will keep you from Him even in a greater way. When your priorities are not in the right place, God can't bless you like He desires to bless you. But when you put Him first, God sees you as a conduit that He can pour His blessings out on because His blessings aren't ending with you, they're flowing through you into others. God desires to bless you to be a blessing to others. And you know the quickest way to stop receiving God's blessings? Think that God's blessing you for you. You see, when there's an inlet, but not an outlet, that's what our society calls a cesspool. Nothing lives in a cesspool. Fish die in a cesspool. Why? Because water flowed in but there was no way for water to flow out. Water becomes stagnant, it dies. That's when you go to Israel with the church, they'll take you to the Dead Sea and they call it the Dead Sea because hundreds of thousands of living water, gallons and gallons and gallons of living water from the Jordan River flow into this sea. Life from the Sea of Galilee in the North flow down into the Dead Sea but the Dead Sea has no outlet. Thus nothing can live in it. Not a single bacteria can stay alive because of its salt concentration. You wanna know the quickest way to die spiritually? To die out in your vision, in your passion for the Lord? Stop pouring out what God has poured in. And you will find your passion quickly passing. But if you, like these disciples who turned into preachers, like these skeptics who turned to believers, like these witnesses who turned into martyrs realized that they saw Jesus and they wanted to do something with what God had given to them. They wanted to give it to others. You will find your life radically changed and transformed and you'll be able to walk forward with the Lord into all that He has for you this year because your priority was Jesus Christ, one and only. Everything else revolves around that. Jesus is most important. He needs to be on the throne of your life. Is Jesus on the throne? Second Samuel chapter two verse 30, excuse me, first Samuel chapter two verse 30 says this, honor the Lord and He will honor you. This year, this new beginning, this fresh start, honor the Lord, put Him first. As a precedent in your day, give Him your first, give Him your best, give Him your all. And you truly will find this next year will be the best year yet. Because the Bible declares that if you draw near to Him, He promises to draw near to you. If you seek Him, you will find Him. If you look for Him, He will make Himself known to you. If you keep on knocking, it will be open. If you keep on asking, He will answer. If you look for Jesus Christ, you will see Him. He will reveal Himself to you. And then you will have a New Year's revelation. You'll see Jesus for who He is and you'll begin to understand what He has for you. Maybe someone tonight brought you here and you haven't yet in your own life experienced what Peter and James and Paul and the crowd experienced. For their eyes were open to seeing Jesus Christ as their Savior. And perhaps tonight you haven't gotten to that point where you've seen Jesus as your own personal Lord and Savior. Maybe someone brought you here tonight or maybe you even brought yourself to church thinking, maybe I need to get back into church and try to figure things out in my life and try to do better. Maybe you heard there was an epic band playing tonight which didn't disappoint. Maybe you heard there was a good-looking preacher, Pastor David, now you're disappointed. Whatever reason you came into church tonight for, I believe that God has brought you here for one reason to have a revelation, a New Year's revelation. Of the resurrected Savior. So that this day could be that day where everything changes for you. You might think, well, how can I, how can I turn back to God after what I've done? Listen, Paul killed Christians. A lot of them, mothers, fathers, children. Children, I'm pretty sure you've been killed as many people as Paul, maybe a few, but not as many as Paul has. I don't care how bad you are or how good you think you are, we are all in the need of a Savior. And Paul shows that no one's too bad to be saved and to be used by God. Peter shows that no one could fail so many times where Jesus wouldn't go after him and still call him back. James, who is a very religious person, shows that no one's too good to need a Savior, but that we're all in need of Jesus Christ. And God sent himself to take your place and your punishment for your sin so that you wouldn't have to. He loves you that much. And if you would like to live a life of hope, receiving a living hope, all you have to do is turn from your sins and turn to Jesus Christ, the one who gave his life for you. And then you can know Jesus Christ. You can know that your sins are forgiven. You can know that you're going to heaven. You can have that absolute assurance because Jesus promises it, but it all starts with a revelation of the resurrected Savior. And when you ask Jesus into your heart, like Paul, who was blinded, his eyes were healed, the blinders removed, and he was able to see clearly, so too when you open your heart to Christ, the blinders come off and you are able to have a revelation, Christ revealing himself to you. Christ brought you here tonight to reveal himself to you, to give you this opportunity to give your life to him. And for those that are in Christ Jesus, the Bible declares all the old is passed away. Behold, all things become new. It's the best new year ever.